Nottingham City Council to spend £250k on heating scheme consultants

The Eastcroft Incinerator powers the district heating system

Consultants costing £250,000 will be employed by Nottingham City Council to provide advice on its district heating network.

The council provides heat and hot water for 5,000 city homes and more than 100 commercial properties using its Eastcroft incinerator.

A government-appointed improvement board, monitoring the council, has ordered a review of the operation.

However the authority says its staff lacks the expertise to carry it out.

In total, up to £250,000 will be allocated for the advisors at a rate of more than £10,000 per month, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

Council documents, seen by the LDRS, said: "There is a need to engage consultants to provide specialist legal, technical, financial and other advice to council officers undertaking the District Heating and Waste Disposal Strategic Review.

"Contracts to provide energy to the district heating system and for the city's waste disposal needs are due for renewal.

"Specialist advice and support not available within the council is required."

Customers face an £11 energy bill rise in the new year

The documents also said the authority's in-house legal team "neither possesses the capacity nor the expertise required" to fully support the review.

The heating network was previously run externally by the council as Enviroenergy, but the Labour-run authority brought the company in-house at the end of 2021.

At the time, the council said the company had been profitable every year since 2013, apart from 2017.

The review comes as the council said the huge network of pipes, and its associated systems, need £17.5m of investment between now and 2026.

More than £4m is already being spent on updating outdated energy meters and the billing system to allow customers to pay online.

Heating bills for more than 5,000 customers are due to increase by at least £11 a year from January.